Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay (Spanish: República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast. It is part of the Southern Cone region of South America. Uruguay covers an area of approximately 176,215 square kilometres (68,037 sq mi). It has a population of around 3.4 million, of whom nearly 2 million live in the metropolitan area of its capital and largest city, Montevideo.

The area that became Uruguay was first inhabited by groups of hunter-gatherers 13,000 years ago. The predominant tribe at the moment of the arrival of Europeans was the Charrúa people. At the same time, there were also other tribes, such as the Guaraní and the Chaná, when the Portuguese first established Colonia do Sacramento in 1680; Uruguay was colonized by Europeans later than its neighboring countries.

The Spanish founded Montevideo as a military stronghold in the early 18th century due to competing claims over the region, while Uruguay won its independence between 1811 and 1828, following a four-way struggle between Portugal and Spain, and later Argentina and Brazil. It remained subject to foreign influence and intervention throughout the first half of the 19th century. From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, numerous pioneering economic, labor, and social reforms were implemented, which led to the creation of a highly developed welfare state, which is why the country began to be known as “Switzerland of the Americas”. However, a series of economic crises and the fight against far-left urban guerrilla warfare in the late 1960s and early 1970s culminated in the 1973 coup d’état, which established a civic-military dictatorship until 1985. Uruguay is today a democratic constitutional republic, with a president who serves as both head of state and head of government.

Uruguay is described as a “full democracy” and is very highly ranked in international measurements of government transparency, economic freedom, social progress, income equality, per capita income, innovation, and infrastructure. The country has fully legalized cannabis (the first country in the world to do so), as well as same-sex marriage, prostitution, and abortion. It is a United Nations, OAS, and Mercosur founding member.

Some early historic relations between Uruguay and Portugal

In 1680, Portuguese colonists established Colônia do Sacramento on the northern bank of Río de la Plata, on the opposite coast from Buenos Aires. Spanish colonial activity increased as Spain sought to limit Portugal’s expansion of Brazil’s frontiers. The Spanish also moved to capture Colonia del Sacramento. The 1750 Treaty of Madrid secured Spanish control over Banda Oriental (present day Uruguay), and settled the boundaries between Spain and Portugal.

In 1776, the new Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata was established with its capital in Buenos Aires and it included the territory of Banda Oriental. In 1816, Portugal conquered Banda Oriental from Spain and incorporated the territory into the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves and it became the Cisplatina province within Brazil. In 1824, after the Siege of Montevideo, Banda Oriental became an integral part of independent Brazil. In 1825, the newly named Uruguay became an independent nation.

In 1843, Portugal opened a consulate in Montevideo. In October 1910, Uruguay recognized the Portuguese Republic. In May 1918, Uruguay recognized President Sidónio Pais and his Government.